If you don't like to wait on others, a four-day trip in a foreign country with twelve people isn't exactly something to be excited about. It would be tempting to think, "I'd be better off doing this on my own."

Going first--being the one to initiate the conversation or the process--isn't easy. It's scary. It's uncomfortable.

I've fallen enough by now to have learned this about moving on post-spill:

You have to forget the last fall.

If the lack of "freedom" in a marriage can be its most valuable trait, the abundance of freedom for a single person might be his or her biggest obstacle to growth.

For me, the holidays are certainly about gratitude, good food, days off, college football, pro football, time for books, time to write, time to binge on Netflix, time to rest...but they're also a time I'm forced to forgive again.